Delight in a Dumpster

My husband found this fabulous drum set in a dumpster outside one of his work sites. Everything was intact and in good condition, albeit with a few small scratches here and there, which most likely resulted from being thrown into the garbage in the first place!

Both M&M absolutely love these drums! Maya plays them every day and Baby claps along and moves to the rhythm. Because they are of such good quality, I actually don’t mind the racket as much as I expected I would. The girls are lucky their dad found this set, because with a retail value of $100+, it’s definitely not a purchase we would have made otherwise.

He also found two small bikes that I ended up cleaning up and selling for a small profit at my yard sale in June. It’s baffling to me how someone can just toss perfectly good things into the trash simply because they no longer have use for them. Take a few minutes out of your busy life, and donate these items, people!!

Consider giving your unwanted items to the Salvation Army. You can go drop off your donation at a Salvation Army drop-off location; find your nearest one here: http://www.satruck.com, or call 1-800-SA-TRUCK to schedule a pick up if you have a lot to donate. The representative will ask you what you are donating so that the driver can have a receipt ready for you. They usually come within a week of when you place the call. It’s SO convenient, good for the environment in that less junk ends up in the dump, and above all – a great cause!

The Salvation Army will accept furniture, clothes, linens, toys, miscellaneous home decor – pretty much anything that is in good condition. There’s even a Valuation Guide on their website to help you calculate how much your tax deduction will amount to. These items are then sold at Salvation Army thrift stores, with the proceeds going to Adult Rehabilitation Centers. My father has stayed at one of these (in Austin, Texas) so there’s a special place in my heart for this organization.

Freecycle is a great tool as well. Membership is free; all you have to do is join your local group and then you can start giving (and getting) free stuff to your heart’s content. Freecycle’s mission is to is to “build a worldwide gifting movement that reduces waste, saves precious resources & eases the burden on our landfills while enabling our members to benefit from the strength of a larger community.” One man’s trash is quite often another man’s treasure!

Recycling electronics can be trickier. It costs a lot to dispose of these items so you can’t just toss them in your garbage can or recycling bin. Many places don’t accept them at all, or charge you a fee for disposal.

Small devices (such as cell phones, PDAs, cameras, ipods, etc) can be mailed into your local post office at no charge. You can pick up a few postage-paid mailers (small, white plastic envelopes) at the post office next time you stop to buy some stamps!

I found that my local Best Buy stores recycle computers at no charge! They take up to two units per day, and even give you a receipt. Not sure what the receipt is for, as this isn’t considered a donation…

Hope this makes you think twice next time you’re throwing something away.

What a great find! I know your kids were so stoked.. mine would have been. It is just crazy on what people throw away. Just a couple weeks ago, my dad found a flat screen Dell computer monitor and took it home to my mom. It works like a charm. What the heck???